GaryI'm not sure I can give you much more than the fact that its not genetic , it is associated with GID, gender identity disorders, It is associated with family instability (Denmark 2006) and with in many cases sexual interference at an earlty age by older males.

In other words, most people who don't have GID's , unstable families, or sexual abuse grow up like 98% of us.

A Penis being sucked by a man feels the same as a penis being sucked by a woman. An orgasm does not discriminate between gender. It is your own shallowness, and ignorance concerning sexuality, which dictates your so-called "morality".

"How does my natural repugnance at the smell of feces, which apparently you don't share involve 'judging' others. "

Because it's all you see, Tom, and you refuse to acknowledge the fact that many homosexual men *do not have anal sex* and therefore the smell of faeces is nothing to do with them. It also has nothing to do with lesbian relations, but you don't focus on them because your interest in homosexuality is prurient.

The fallacies are all yours, as you tie yourself in knots trying to pass off your hatred as 'caring' for poor maladapted homosexuals. You twist your 'facts' to meet your prejudice and completely ignore anything that inconveniently doesn't fit. For example, you've stated somewhere upthread that marriage is for procreation and sterile liasons are therefore wrong, but you are not here shouting about the disgusting marriages of sterile men to women (or vice versa) which would also result in a sterile marriage.

You also continuously repeat that homosexuality is 'curable', when it demonstrably isn't.

Tom: What was his side of the story? What should the priest have done if she revealed her lesbian relationship in confession? Should the priest absolve her and then give her communion, or should he withhold communion, knowing that she was going to change? Or should the priest simply refused confession?

But in the end, how is it that the priest refused to give her communion and deny communion in public? Did he know that she was a lesbian? If so, how? Where was he when she confessed? You've got to admit, Tom, that the priest acted like a clod. He deliberately went out of his way to humiliate the woman...and that's not Christian.

"Manufacturing the next generation of victims by your neglect" how dare you say that disagreeing with your opinion results this way. People are not manufactured, caring and loving those in the true sense of the word is not neglect. Neither is showing them your bigoted ,dictatorial, patronising attitude is not unique but is certainly unkind, inaccurate and not representative of most Catholic thinking. Others of other religious or non religious beliefs of course state their own opinions.

What's the problem Maria. Homosexual attraction is very clearly not a matter of nature, but is significantly determined by broken families, bad relationships with the same sex parent, sexual abuse and confusion at an early age and a host of emotional problems.

If you are not prepared to look at helping kids who are falling by the wayside this way then shame on you.

The issue with most of you on this is twenty years of brainwashing and indifference to what children are going to be told about being a boy or girl. But its the kids who will be ushered into 'the life' with all its death and disease that someone should have some concern for.

Shakepen , here are some of the reported difficulties, which match what the priest was reported as having said.

LifeSiteNews spoke today with Diego von Stauffenberg, a source who is close to the incident and who revealed detailed information about the nature of Fr. Guarnizo's actions at the funeral. According to Stauffenberg the priest was confronted by Johnson for the first time moments before Mass began.

She was reportedly agitated by the fact that the funeral was being presided over by Fr. Guarnizo, who is well known for his outspoken defense of Church teachings. The priest has been on the front lines of local pro-life activism, leading prayer vigils at Dr. LeRoy Carhart's late term abortion facility in Germantown.

Johnson initially came into the sacristy to discuss the details of the two eulogies that were supposed to be delivered, but left abruptly and returned with her brother and another woman, whom she introduced as her "lover."

Following this introduction, Johnson made a second abrupt exit, this time with her lover reportedly blocking the door in an apparent attempt to prevent any further conversation between Fr. Guarnizo and Johnson.

The priest proceeded with the Mass, but decided to remind the congregation before Communion of what is required to be properly disposed to receive. Stauffenberg reports that when Johnson approached for Communion anyway, Fr. Guarnizo turned her away in a manner so discreet that the Extraordinary Minister standing a few feet away did not know what had occurred. Johnson then crossed over to the Extraordinary minister's line and was given communion.

Moreover, says Stauffenberg, media reports that Fr. Guarnizo refused to be present during Johnson's eulogy are inaccurate. Johnson had told Channel 9 News that "Fr. Marcel left the altar, and did not return until I finished my eulogy."

She also told the National Catholic Reporter that Fr. Guarnizo not only did not attend the burial, but also did not make an effort to find another priest to do so, and that it was the funeral director who took the initiative in contacting another priest.

The truth, according to Stauffenberg, is that Fr. Guarnizo suffers from migraines which are triggered by stressful situations. He had a migraine during the funeral, and discreetly left after the first eulogy ended, looking for water to revive himself. When he returned to the sanctuary, Johnson was about five minutes into a eulogy that lasted around fifteen to twenty minutes.

After the Mass was over, he accompanied the body in procession down the aisle and out the door to the hearse, where he informed the funeral director that he would be unable to make the 11 mile drive from the Church to the cemetery on Aspen Hill. He personally arranged for the funeral director to contact another local priest, Fr. Paul Sweeney, who joined the family at the cemetery.

"Mrs. Johnson was given a Catholic funeral with all of the formality and all of the respect that the Catholic Church has to offer," said Stauffenberg.

Most of the substantial details offered by Stauffenberg have been corroborated by another source who also contacted LifeSiteNews, but who wishes to remain anonymous. In addition, an email circulating in the Diocese which claims to have originated from a group of people who met with Father shortly after the incident says the following:

"Fr knew the lady was a practicing lesbian because she came into the sacristy and introduced her `lover' to Fr just before the Mass. He quietly denied her communion (so quietly that the Euch minister next to him didn't realize that he did), and the woman promptly went to the other line and received communion anyway! He left to use the restroom (he was getting a migraine) between the eulogies, but did finish the ceremony and escorted the casket out. He made arrangements for there to be another priest at the gravesite and there was. He felt that it was a matter of conscience to deny her communion since he had been informed that she was an active homosexual by her own admission."

Another statement from the Archdiocese about the incident was published yesterday in the Washington Post. The statement noted that "no one is entitled to the Eucharist," and that "any person who obstinately perseveres in manifest grave sin is not to be admitted to Holy Communion."

The statement also said that situations which called for denial of communion "ideally" would be handled by "discussing the consequences of such sin with the person privately before actually denying them Communion."

A priest must always give the benefit of the doubt in confession. But , say in the case of someone who smokes injuriously, a person can confess the harm, wish it were otherwise and ask for the grace to quit, and have a smoke right outside the church after his "Hail Mary". This is simply how we are. The intention , or even the wish to be better and awareness of the harm is quite sufficient.

Most of us wrestle with the same kind of stuff most of our days.

The grace of confession is one of the most wonderful things to experience. My usual priest is a really good at picking up and encouraging. But I really have on at least a few occasions, had a real sense of the presence of God, as a light and gentle happiness. I'm ordinarily notoriously happy in any case.

I believe that homosexual behaviour is a matter of nature, not all the reasons you give. I do not regard homosexuals as having "fallen by the wayside". Being different than others doesn't mean wrong-merely different. I am not brainwashed or indifferent just informed, intelligent & capable of making my own decisions. With any study by a group of scientists there is always another that says the opposite, so I have learnt to judge for myself. All things in life can be dangerous ,from crossing the road onwards. Taking sensible precautions is what young people need teaching and eventually they realise this themselves. I have gay relatives and friends and they are all nice, caring helpful people. Try some humility-yours is one way of thinking-that doesn't make it right, certainly not for all.

I'm sure you're a very nice and emotionally supportive woman. After close to a million dead due to men having sex with men its nice that you're so skeptical. So what's the point Maria. I try to support my claims with evidence. You assume that you just get to decide what is true. I LOST two friends, one of whom I was particularly close to and homosexulity played a role in her unhappiness and death.

I won't argue further with you about young gay sex and 'taking precautions' because you just decide how things are independently of any knowledge or experience.

Humility though is exactly the opposite of what you are doing. It is arrogance that asserts, "I want things to be this way." and which arrogantly assumes priveleged insight with no evidence. This is just indifference and probably in your case, social conditioning.

When genetic twins studies show its not genetic Maria.. that means its not genetic. When studies show emotional trauma, its truama. When youth are sexually abused by older men, its sexual abuse Maria. It's not just whatever Maria says. It is you who insist on a path of reasoning without reasoning, and it is that that is not right.

It is good that you have friends who are homosexually attracted as do I, but this doesn't mean that a whole generation of kids isn't going to be forced down a road they would not otherwise choose but for accidents of their families and life circumstances over which they have no control. And yes typicaly, when very young they will show up HIV positive and begin a lifetime of medications to keep from dying very young.

Support and love must be intelligent support and love, even if unpopular. That is the difference between personality and character.

Tom: this explanation is much more than was given in the papers. The papers noted that the woman was denied communion. The way the situation was presented was that the woman was kneeling, waiting for the Eucharist and was denied. I do not believe that any priest should have to perform any ceremony that is in conflict with his understanding of church policy or his own moral feelings. But, then, I don't want people to be embarrassed either. Thanks for the post.

Tom: I'm happy that you feel good after communion and have the feeling of the presence of God. My mother attended a catholic boarding school. Her faith has been a source of comfort for her over the years. Let me tell you, it sure beats psychoanalysis!

It has been reported today that the Roman Catholic Church wrote to every state-funded Catholic secondary school in England and Wales and urged them to get pupils to sign an anti-gay marriage petition. In at least one school this included a one-sided video presentation.

If you want an example of the harm that religion causes to society, then this is it. Preaching bigotry to schoolchildren and manipulating them for political ends. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves.

"Some studies have shown that up to one in three kids who ends up behaving homosexually was homosexually abused at the median age of 11. "

"some studes".."up to" i.e. the majority aren't. Did you know that according to the NSPCC "nearly a quarter of young adults experienced sexual abuse during childhood"? Your stats prove nothing other than that there are a bunch of damaged people in the world.

Enjoyed the clarity of your blog. Yes the whole homosexual marriage thing which I am opposed to because I believe it cynically debases the idea of family, DOES also challenge us the believing community (as opposed to non-believing bishops) to look at our own hypocritical nature as in the stoning of the woman you discuss above, but as you say WITHOUT forgetting that "if salt loses its taste what is it good for". In other words without forgetting that there is something special and unique about the traditional family that transcends rather than denies the existence of sexuality and what may or may not be its aberrations. In other words it is the positive aspect of heterosexuality rather than the negative aspect of homosexuality, that matters here.

What of our hypocrisy? We need to be able to avoid being too judgemental as this technique seperates the chaff from the wheat, which is against Jesus wishes. On the other hand, we need to say what we stand for. Only OBEDIENCE AS EXEMPLIFIED BY OUR LORD, can save us here, including obedience to a deeper deposit of faith. Which is why Anglicans are a bit shakier than Catholics on this, I think.

Note that all Christians have to become less focused on fulfilling their sexuality or "self-love" in general than on fulfilling their spirituality as they mature as Christians, whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. I suspect that a lot of the hypocrisy centres around that truth about us as sinners. Of course it is also a Christian oxymoron, that in order to gain our lives we have to lose them. This is all about the true nature of personal freedom, which includes developing the freedom of self-denial, in order to find true self.

FC: the adulterous woman is generally agreed to be a scribal insert rather than a true tale. The reason scholars make this assertion is that the incident is not included in the earliest manuscripts, plus the fact that when this incident is left out of the Gospel, there is no break int he narrative.